in texas there's a 78-year-old woman that had 300 and some odd acres, and she was protesting because they're already using eminent domain to plow through her land for this keystone pipeline that supposedly isn't approved by our government. so how does that happen? >> guest: well, eminent domain is usually a function of state and local governments. so if the state approves the condemnation, the state can do that. the federal courts usually have an ability to police the process, though they rarely exercise it. but most condemnation is dope at the local -- is done at the local and state level. >> host: to massachusetts, paul on our independent line. >> caller: yes. i went through this three years ago with the el paso gas delta corporation and our local utility unitel. they had a right-of-way for my property. they wanted a construction right-of-way, and they refused to pay. it cost me $26,000 to fight many court. in court. and the lawyers i had had no idea what i was talking about. they had no idea. and -- [inaudible] when epa or dep in my state says you can't use your land on your farm